When the husband and the wife lives separately, it is called “separation”. Although it is not mandatory for a husband and a wife to stay separately in order to obtain a divorce, yet psychologically it is always better to live separately once it has been mutually agreed upon by and between the spouses that the marriage is going to end in a divorce. When the separation is followed as a part of the Court’s order, it is known as a “Legal Separation”. A Court Separation is always more advisable because it becomes a binding upon the responsibilities and rights of the spouses concerned during the period of separation. If the wife is receivi9ng alimony from the husband during the period of their separation, it becomes the duty of the husband to make the payments on time. The payments made by a husband to his wife during the pendency of the case is known as temporary maintenance or maintenance pendent elite. If the person, who is supposed to make the payments, fail to do so, the Court can take legal action against him.
A written statement of the payment made by the husband towards the maintenance of his wife may be required in case he wants to give it to the income tax departments as an ingredient of tax deduction. This amount now will become a taxable ingredient to the spouse who receives the same. A written agreement is compulsory in order to make the payment of support deductible to the payer and also not to treat the same as an income of the recipient. If the husband and the wife who are separating have children, then the court will decide upon their custody or visitation.
